Indi: The Explorers Agent Who Bet It All on the Strong Sphere

Indi never acts alone. An agent of the Explorers, he enters Pokémon Horizons in episode 99 and is never seen without Rubina from then on, from the first convoy they escort to their boss's downfall. Calm, composed, certain he's right: the character is less an opponent than a cog in the machine, and that's exactly what makes him so easy to read.

Contents

• An Explorers agent, never alone
• Karna's factory, or the mission cut short
• His method: the Strong Sphere instead of a bond
• Escort, jailer, hustler
• The headquarters trap, and the camera
• The dome, the panic, then nothing
• Indi at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

An Explorers agent, never alone

His profile fits in a job title: Explorers agent, partnered with Rubina. The two names almost never appear without each other — same first appearance, same missions, and even the same species sent into the field together: two Paldean Tauros, two Galarian Darmanitan, two Salamence, two Electrode.

His personality comes down to three traits that only seem to contradict one another. Indi is calm and composed, he is wholeheartedly devoted to the Explorers' cause and says he's ready to fight in its name, and he is also deeply arrogant. In the field, that makes for an agent who announces, without ever raising his voice, that his opponents must be eliminated.

None of this is his call. After their first failure, Indi and Rubina head back to Levincia to apologize to Spinel, who brushes the incident aside and simply asks them to stay devoted to the cause. The duo carries out orders, reports back, starts over: his whole story fits in that loop.

Karna's factory, or the mission cut short

His first appearance is an escort job. Exceed employees come to Karna's to collect the Strong Sphere parts she had been making for them; the Poké Ball maker tells them she won't deliver, since the Rising Volt Tacklers have told her what these devices really do to Pokémon.

The duo's response is a flat denial: those are lies, the spheres are an asset for Trainers, and they come with the guarantee of the Explorers, whom the two agents describe as the guardians of world order. When Karna sends them away while speaking to Liko and Roy, the first names are enough: Indi realizes he's facing the Rising Volt Tacklers.

The battle starts right away, one Paldean Tauros each against four Trainers. Indi's Tauros charges Roy's Crocalor, and the two bulls prove as surprising for their independence as for their strength, until Dot puts her finger on the flaw. The Explorers leave without their cargo, their opponents' only parting comment being that you don't win by ignoring your bond with your Pokémon.

His method: the Strong Sphere instead of a bond

What Dot uncovers isn't a one-off weakness but a design flaw. Laquium multiplies the fighting instincts of any Pokémon exposed to it, but it almost completely severs what connects it to its Trainer: each Tauros hammers away at a single target and only ever gets one command, "attack." From there, all it takes is tricking them to turn their power against them.

This dependence is a deliberate choice. Indi relies on Strong Spheres alone and doesn't shy away from moves that can harm his own Pokémon: his Cofagrigus uses Curse and then Destiny Bond, his Galarian Darmanitan switches into Zen Mode, and his Salamence opens with Dragon Dance.

The outcome repeats itself from one battle to the next. At headquarters, the duo's Salamence collapse from exhaustion under the effect of the Super Strong Spheres; earlier, Lucius's former Pokémon keel over all at once as soon as the effect wears off, while a stunned Indi looks on. Every one of the duo's power plays is paid for by the Pokémon it sends into battle.

⚡ His Pokémon also exist without the spheres: see the Pokémon figures.

Escort, jailer, hustler

In episode 106, Indi and Rubina are about to take a Dusk Ball off a boy named Ryan in exchange for a Strong Sphere when Ult shows up, his Ball having gone missing. His Sableye gives way against the two juiced-up Galarian Darmanitan, then the Dusk Ball starts to shake and opens on its own: the Dragonite that comes out sends the two agents running.

Ult tails them back to their base and gets captured there in front of Spinel, though not before spotting, on the way to his cell, containers carrying a Kleavor and a scarred Lapras. That detail will matter more than the capture: when Roy comes to free him and the duo cuts off their escape with their Zen Mode Darmanitan and then Laquium-dosed Rabsca, the Dragonite Mega Evolves and turns the tables.

The inspection in episode 120 sums up the character all on its own. In a research data center the Explorers pass off as a museum, a Gimmighoul hypnotizes the two agents and sends them off to pick up coins; it takes Chalce to snap them out of it, then point out the intruders to them. The Drapion Indi sends out falls to the Sylveon and Jolteon belonging to Penny.

The headquarters trap, and the camera

Episode 124 reveals the duo's real role. They intercept Liko and Dot outside headquarters and lose their Salamence to the Ceruledge belonging to Amethio and a Charcadet that evolves into Armarouge mid-battle, then pull back while the outcome is still undecided. In the next room, each intruder ends up locked in with an Explorer, and Indi gets Lapras, one of the five captive members of the Six Heroes.

When Terapagos purifies the Laquium and frees these Pokémon, Indi's conclusion is anything but an admission of defeat: he tells Spinel the recording is complete. The very next day, the footage is used to smear the Rising Volt Tacklers worldwide and to tout the product's supposed benefits — the battle was only ever a film shoot.

What follows is pure business. The Strong Sphere goes on sale, the public snaps it up, and the duo reports excellent numbers to a boss delighted to have invented a battle accessory. On Mount Pericarp, Indi then sends out his Cofagrigus alongside his teammate's Runerigus, takes down Gholdengo, Decidueye and Jolteon, then openly mocks Nemona's outrage at the way they battle — until Hamber shifts the balance of power.

The dome, the panic, then nothing

Indi's last mission is an act of sabotage. Terapagos has just raised a dome meant to purify the Laquium; the two agents unleash their Electrode to take out Pokémon that can no longer move, and Penny has to sacrifice her Sylveon to absorb the Explosion. Deprived of its Fairy Tera Type, Terapagos starts to weaken.

That's when Indi's side starts to crack. Coral's Scream Tail steps in to replace the missing Sylveon; the young admin's betrayal stuns the duo, but it also opens the eyes of Sidian and Chalce to how dangerous the Strong Spheres are. A furious Spinel steps in to protect the Laquium, which absorbs him and awakens a core capable of striking back at anything that attacks it: Indi and Rubina are terrified.

The Laquium is finally wiped out, and Spinel's Umbreon abandons a Trainer whose ambitions have broken their bond for good. Stripped of their tool, their boss and their cause, the two agents no longer know what to do. When the truth about Spinel's schemes is finally made public, the series doesn't say what becomes of Indi and Rubina.

Indi at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Indi in Pokémon Horizons?
  An Explorers agent who is always sent on missions with his teammate Rubina. He first appears in episode 99, tasked with escorting Exceed employees to Karna's factory to collect Strong Sphere parts.
• What are Indi's Pokémon?
  Six species are documented: Paldean Tauros, Galarian Darmanitan, Drapion, Salamence, Cofagrigus and Electrode. Rubina often fields the same ones alongside him, but not always: on Mount Pericarp, Indi's Cofagrigus fights alongside a Runerigus.
• Why do his Pokémon barely obey him anymore?
  Because he exposes them to the Laquium in Strong Spheres. Dot establishes that the substance multiplies their fighting instincts while almost completely severing their bond with their Trainer: Indi can no longer give them anything but an order to attack, and all it takes to beat them is to trick them.
• What happens to Indi at the end of the series?
  The series doesn't say. After the Laquium is wiped out and Spinel falls, the two agents no longer know what to do, and Indi's fate, like Rubina's, remains unknown once the truth is made public.

In short

Indi is written as a counterexample. He has faith, discipline and a formidable lineup of Pokémon, and he loses almost every time — not for lack of power, but because his power comes from a device that cuts his Pokémon off from him. Take away the Strong Sphere and nothing is left: no order to give, no cause to defend. The series doesn't even give him an ending, which is a verdict in itself.